PicoBlog

One of today’s guests is Andrei Bolkonsky, aide-de-camp to Kutuzov, the commander-in-chief of the army on its way to Austria. He has recently married Lise Meinen. According to Anna Pavolvna, he has an eccentric father and an unhappy sister.

His wife arrives first at Anna’s soirée, complaining of how Andrei is deserting her to get himself killed in the war.

And here he is, with his “measured step” and “bored expression”, a handsome young man who looks thoroughly displeased to be here. And no one bores him more than his wife, Lise. Only his dear friend Pierre can put a smile on his face.

Andrei seems well-versed in Napoleon’s speeches and proclamations. He uses his superior knowledge to put down the Vicomte, whom he clearly dislikes. Not that Andrei is a Bonapartist or a Jacobin. But he defends his friend Pierre, arguing that the French emperor has been, at times, “great”.

Our bored prince deals with the unwanted and inappropriate advances of Prince Ippolit towards Andrei’s wife. Back home with Pierre, he soaks up his friend’s “childish words” while unable to explain why he or anyone is going to fight Napoleon.

After his cold argument with his wife, Andrei becomes animated by a brilliant light. “Never marry”, he advises Pierre, and give up your debauched life with Anatole Kuragin. In a monologue full of self-pity, the young aide-de-camp explains he is going to war to escape society.

Andrei has written to his sister and is due to arrive shortly at Bald Halls with his wife Lise. He will leave her there and continue on to the frontier and the war in Austria.

Bolkonsky arrives at Bald Hills, looking sad, and feels uneasy as his wife and sister greet each other affectionately. Marya greets him warmly. He is more animated later with his father, whom he loves despite his eccentricities and harsh manner.

He finds something amusing about an ancestral portrait and a genealogical tree of the Bolkonskys, describing it as his father’s “Achilles’ heal”. And Andrei respects his father and listens attentively at dinner, while quietly disagreeing with him on most points. He says Napoleon is a “great general” but refuses to elaborate: “That would take too long to tell”.

We note his tidy and meticulous packing, but also that is a man “capable of reflection” who must now think seriously of his past and future. Marya calls him “Andryusha” and remembers “the slender mischievous boy” he once was. “You have changed so”. He recognises that their father has become more “trying” but does not want to see how hard country life will be for Lise. He says he does not blame himself or her for anything, but they are not happy, and he does not know why. He agrees to wear his grandfather’s icon for Masha. He says goodbye to his father, asking him to send for a Moscow doctor for the birth and, if he dies, to keep his son at Bald Hills with his father. He leaves for the war.

Andrei has a walk-on part as a member of Kutuzov’s suite of officers. He points out Dolokhov to the Field Marshall.

At the military headquarters in Braunau we learn a lot about Andrei. He has lost his “affected languor and indolence” and now looks brighter and happier. Opinon is divided about him: a minority “expect great things of him” while most consider him “conceited, cold, and disagreeable”. He is excited and irritated by the Austrian defeat. He looks forward to a battle, but does not know what to think of his hero defeating Russians in battle. He cannot tolerate Zherkov’s buffoonery, but seems to be even more angry with Nesvitsky’s choice of friendship.

Andrei has taken part in a minor Russian victory as the army retreats. He remembers his courage and looks forward to promotion and an audience with the Austrian emperor. But at Brünn, the Ministry of War treats him with indifference and focuses, justifiably, on the death of the Austrian General Schmidt. Like Nikolai, Andrei’s romantic ideals of war are being sorely tested.

Andrei enjoys the comforts of Bilibin’s rooms at Brünn. When the diplomat spells out the extent of Napoleon’s victory, Andrei cannot hide his admiration for his hero, that “extraordinary genius” Napoleon. Still, it is all a bit of a letdown compared to his hopes of a great battle. He comforts himself with his memories of the skirmish where they lost Schmidt, when “he experienced tenfold the joy of living, as he had not done since childhood.”

You can sense Andrei crawling deep into himself as Bilibin introduces him to the fashionable clic at Brünn. Ippolit is there, “of whom he had almost been jealous on his wife’s account”. They want to take him to the theatres and show him the women. But Andrei bristles with his own self-importance: he is off to tell the emperor the truth about the war. What is Bolkonsky? Not a womaniser. And definitely not a diplomat.

Andrei meets the Austrian emperor. Like the meeting with the War Minister, it is a bit of a letdown for the young prince. But he does get the Maria Theresa Order of the third grade and an audience with the empress. So maybe Bilibin was wrong? But the French are coming, and Andrei is given a stark choice: a safe seat in Bilibin’s caleche or the road back to war, death and glory. No prizes for guessing which one Andrei chooses.

Andrei quits his city break at Brünn for a walk on part in a war. He’s still thinking of his hero Napoleon, and his own hopes of glory. But the reality on the road disabuses him of his romantic ideals. All is chaos. And when he finds Kutuzov, the one-eyed general stares straight through him. Andrei is young and proud and wants to be a hero: so he asks to join Bagration’s suicide mission to hold back the French.

Andrei reports to Bagration at the camp and the general gives him liberty to serve as he wishes. Andrei wants to see the positions so he knows his bearing. In his tour of the camp, he sees an unprepared and disorderly regiment. There is Tushin without his boots, “quite unsoldierly” but “extremely attractive”. And Dolokhov taunting the enemy.

On the eve of the Battle of Schöngrabern, Andrei is considering the “important possibilities” that may take place during the fighting. His thoughts are interrupted by Tushin’s voice, talking about something Andrei has not considered: life after death.

The battle has begun, and Andrei wonders whether this is his “Toulon”, a reference to the battle that made Napoleon’s reputation. He is struck by Bagration’s sense of calm and the effect the commander has on his men, even though the battle is hopeless and no effective orders can be given.

Andrei is perplexed by the state of disorder in the regiment, but as they re-form and advance, he “felt that an invisible power was leading him forward, and experienced great happiness.”

Andrei is sent to Tushin’s battery to order the artillerymen to retreat. The flashy staff officer has already been and gone, scared off by a couple of cannonballs. Andrei tells himself “I cannot be afraid” and stays to help Tushin move the cannons. They shake hands on parting, and Tushin calls him “my dear fellow” and cries.

He is sad and depressed in the officer’s hut after the battle. It seems clear that it doesn’t matter what people did during the battle. He tells Bagration that “we owe today’s success chiefly to the action” of Tushin’s battery. Which is enough to prevent Tushin from being disciplined but not enough to win him honours. “It was all so strange, so unlike what he had hoped.”

Andrei goes to see Boris because he is flattered and likes to help young men. He is not happy to see Rostov there, a hussar of the line boasting about his military exploits. Nikolai insults him, but Andrei makes it clear that he has not been insulted: "In a day or two, we shall all have to take part in a greater and more serious duel."

On duty at Olmutz, dealing contemptuously with a decorated general and making him wait while he talks to Boris. He takes pleasure in helping Boris and takes him to Prince Dolgorukov.

Andrei is keen to know from Dologrukov what Napoleon is like. He has his own plan for the battle, but General Weyrother’s plan has already been agreed.

Andrei feels more sure than ever that either he will die tomorrow or he will have to prove himself. He dreams of his Toulon. And realises with dreadful certainty that he would sacrifice everything for glory and triumph over men he doesn’t know for the love of men he doesn’t know.

At the start of the battle, Andrei is with Kutuzov on Pratzen Heights. He is thinking once again of his Toulon.

Andrei. The surprise attack by the French causes chaos and the soldiers free. Andrei feels this is his moment and takes the standard to rally the troops. But he does not get very far before is wounded. Lying on the ground, he looks up:

‘How was it I did not see that lofty sky before? And how happy I am to have found it at last! Yes! All is vanity, all falsehood, except that infinite sy. There is nothing, nothing, but that. But even it does not exist, there is nothing but quiet and peace. Thank God!’

Andrei loses consciousness. When he comes to, Napoleon is above him. “That’s a fine death!” says Napoleon of Andrei. Andrei’s hero seems to him “a small insignificant creature compared with what was passing now between himself and that lofty infinite sky.” His only wish is to live. Napoleon notices he is still alive and sends him to the field hospital. He loses consciousness from the pain being moved to the hospital.

There is nothing certain, nothing at all except the unimportance of everything I understand, and the greatness of somthing incomprehensible but all-important.

The soldiers take away Marya’s icon, but return it to him when they see how Napoleon treats the wounded officers. He thinks of his sister and his faith, and his family and his unborn son. He grows delirious, and the doctor says he will not recover. As one of the fatally wounded, he is left to the care of the local inhabitants.

We learn of Andrei’s death in the last line of this chapter:

Of Bolkonsky nothing was said, and only those who knew him intimately regretted that he had died so young, leaving a pregnant wife with his eccentric father.

He returns home with the doctor called to assist his wife’s labour. “Yes, it was he, pale, thin, with a changed and strangely softened but agitated expression on his face.”

Andrei goes in to see Liza. She says nothing. “His coming had nothing to do with her sufferings or with their relief.” Soon after, their son is born, and Liza dies. Both Bolkonsky men read the reproach of her face: What have you done to me? Andrei feels “guilty of a sin he could neither remedy nor forget.” Liza is buried three days later, and after another five days, Andrei’s son Nikolai is baptised.

Andrei and his father have traded places in the war. His father has found new energy and strength as a recruitment commander. Andrei has moved to his new estate, Bogucharovo, to care for his son and sit the war out. Serving is compulsory, so he has chosen to help his father rather than fight at the front. His son has a fever and neither Andrei nor Marya are getting much sleep. So they argue. When his father writes to him with instructions, Andrei thinks: “No, pardon me, I won’t go now till the child is better.”

Andrei reads Bilibin’s letter about squabbling generals and marauding soldiers. He is disturbed by its effect on him, pulling him back to his former life. Then, he is terrified that this may have distracted him from his vigil over the sick child. The fear that baby Nikolai is dead is unfounded. The fever has passed, and sister and brother share a moment of peace from the world beyond.

Pierre visits Andrei on his estate. Both men are much changed. At Bogucharovo, “everything bore an impress of tidiness and good management.” After an awkward start, they begin to argue about the nature of good and evil. Pierre believes he ruined his life by living for himself and found happiness in living for others. Andrei lives for himself and his family. He also wants to free the serfs, but only because he has seen how unlimited power turns good men into monsters.

His words were kindly and there was a smile on his lips and face, but his eyes were dull and lifeless and in spite of his evident wish to do so he could not give them a joyous and glad sparkle.

Two old friends set out to Bald Hills. Pierre can see Andrei is unhappy but is reticent to begin talking about his beliefs – fearing they will be shot down. But when he does speak, Andrei listens and does not laugh at him. They cross a river at sunset. Pierre has faith in the world, but Andrei will only be convinced by “life and death”, his grief and remorse. “If only it were so!” he says. On the other bank: outwardly he is unchanged. Inwardly, he has begun a new life.

When Andrei and Pierre arrive at Bald Halls, Marya is receiving two pilgrims whom Andrei disparagingly calls “God’s folk.” In contrast to his sensitivity towards Pierre’s beliefs, Andrei treats Marya and these pilgrims cruelly. And Pierre behaves no better: one man’s religion is another’s superstition. But in the end, both men are penitent, and Marya, as is her way, forgives them.

Chastened, Pierre listens attentively to the pilgrims and treats them with renewed kindness. Marya tells Pierre she is worried about Andrei. His wound has re-opened and he is suffering spiritually. During his stay, everyone takes a shine to Pierre. “A fine fellow” who “talks rubbish” says the old prince. Pierre realises the strength of his friendship with Andrei, conveyed in the happiness he brings to the household at Bald Hills.

Two years have passed. Andrei has been living in the country, accomplishing everything on his estates that Pierre failed to achieve on his. He is reading a great deal and drawing up proposed reforms of the army. In spring, 1809, he visits his son’s estates, where he sees an old oak tree defying “spring, love, happiness.” Andrei identifies with the oak, arriving afresh at “his old conclusion”, not to begin anything but to “live out his life, content to do no harm, and not disturbing himself or desiring anything.”

Andrei visits Ilya Rostov on business at his house at Otradnoe. Rostov is living in the country as he always does: extravagantly, entertaining everyone with hunts, theatricals, dinners, and music. Andrei is struck by Natasha’s happiness: “Why is she so happy?” On a beautiful moonlit night, he overhears Sonya and Natasha looking at the moon. The scene stirs “youthful thoughts and hopes” in Andrei.

The next day, Andrei sets off home. On the way, he passes his gnarly old oak transformed: old scars, old doubts, old sorrows no longer visible. He is seized by a spring-time feeling of renewal and makes plans to go to Petersburg. He keeps his new thoughts “secret as a crime” and is outwardly cold and logical. Marya blames his intellectual work.

In Petersberg, Andrei is snubbed by the emperor for not having served since 1805. He believes his proposed reform of the army will “speak for itself” but the Minister of War, Count Arakcheev, pours cold water on his plans. Two men are now all-powerful in Russian society: the terrifying Arakcheev and the youthful reformer Speransky.

Despite his initial reception at court, Andrei is made welcome in the diverse circles of society. The liberals think he is a liberal, the traditionalists think he is conservative, and the ladies think he is charming and available. But Andrei only has eyes for one man: the great reformer Speransky, with the fate of Russia in his plump white hands. He tries to resist, but the man is irresistible.

Andrei becomes the sort of man he once despised: A man of society, talking a great deal and thinking of nothing. His admiration of Speransky deepens. This is the man he would himself have wished to be if he was not afflicted by self-doubt and self-loathing and the inkling that “all I think and believe in nonsense.” Very soon he is on the committee and drafting new laws.

Andrei is at the New Year’s Eve ball, looking “younger, happier, and better-looking” than he did at Otradnoe. Peronskaya says, “he’s too proud for anything. Takes after his father.” Pierre stops and talks to him.

Pierre approaches an “animated and bright” Andrei and introduces him to Natasha. We learn that Andrei not only likes dancing but is good at it. And when he dances with Natasha, the “wine of her charm” goes straight to his head.

Andrei is smitten and predicts Natasha will be married to someone within a month, perhaps even him.

Like all men who have grown up in society, Prince Andrei liked meeting someone there not of the conventional society stamp. And such was Natasha, with her surprise, her delight, her shyness, and even her mistakes in speaking French. With her he behaved with special care and tenderness, sitting beside her and talking of the simplest and most unimportant matters; he admired the joyous brightness of her eyes and smile, which related not to what was said but to her own happiness.

The next day, Andrei goes back to work but has lost all interest in his labours. He dines with Speranksy and finds the joyless laughter tiresome and unpleasant. Andrei reflects on his time in Petersburg and is ashamed of himself. What he did in the country now feels far more valuable than all this useless work.

Andrei visits the Rostov house, where he is welcomed simply and cordially like an “old friend.” It is like arriving on a “strange world” previously unknown to him, and as Natasha sings, he realises he is crying. Later, unable to sleep, he makes “happy plans for the future.” He plans to find a tutor for his son and travel abroad. Pierre, he thinks, was right: “We must believe in the possibility of happiness in order to be happy.”

Pierre notices the effect Andrei and Natasha are having on each other, and feels both pain and joy to see it. Vera decides her party requires “subtle allusions to the tender passions”, so she asks Andrei what he thinks of Natasha. When an embarrassed Andrei has escaped, he tells Pierre they must talk.

Andrei dines with the Rostovs. Natasha confides in her mother, both frightened about what is happening. Natasha decides it is fate and convinces herself it was love at first sight. Pierre rouses himself from his dark thoughts to tell Andrei to “marry, marry, marry.” He sees a new man in Andrei, a lover of light. Andrei resolves to marry Natasha, with or without his father’s permission.

Andrei asks for his father’s consent to his marriage. With “external composure” and “inward wrath” the old man begs Andrei to wait a year and go abroad. Natasha waits in agony for three weeks before Andrei returns. She accepts his proposal and they kiss. Simultaneously, their feelings change, and both become more serious. Natasha thinks a year is “awful” and “impossible”, but she accepts it must be so.

Andrei visits the Rostovs regularly, but the betrothal is kept secret. The betrothed couple gets to know one another and finds common ground. Andrei tells Natasha to confide in Pierre, who "is a most absent-minded and absurd fellow" but with a "heart of gold." Andrei remembers his parting with Natasha for a long time afterwards.

At Bald Hills, the old prince's health and temper are getting worse. He takes it all out on Marya, attacking her religion and the way she cares for Andrei's son. Andrei visits and Marya notices he is more gentle and happy than he has been for a long time. She writes to Julie, who has just lost her brother in the war. She does not believe the rumours about her brother and Natasha.

Six months pass. Andrei writes to Marya from Switzerland, informing her of the betrothal. He asks her to give the letter to their father and get his agreement to shorten his exile. The letter angers the old prince, who threatens to marry Bourienne. "Wait until I am dead," he says. Marya thinks about her private dream to become a pilgrim, running away to a place without "sorrow or sighing".

In Rome, Andrei’s wound has re-opened, and Natasha falls into a depressive state, feeling sorry for herself and the time she has wasted.

Pierre visits Andrei when he arrives in Moscow, finding him unnaturally animated about war and politics. Andrei asks his friend to return Natasha’s items and tell her she is ‘perfectly free.’ He adds that he knows she should be forgiven, but he cannot forgive her. Pierre observes the contempt the Bolkonskys have for the Rostovs.

After the events in Moscow, Andrei followed Anatole first to Petersburg and then to the army in Turkey. Andrei can no longer see the ‘lofty skies’ as his life has become ‘a low solid vault.’ He asks Kutuzov for a transfer to the Western front and the war with Napoleon. On his way, he stops at Bald Hills and argues with his father about Mademoiselle Bourienne. Despite Marya imploring him to forgive and forget, Andrei leaves his family on bad terms without remorse or regret.

Andrei catches up with the army and court at Drissa, where he is attached to Barclay de Tolly. Anatole is not there, so Andrei immerses himself in military matters. He identifies no fewer than nine factions with competing designs for the campaign. Most men are just in it for their own pleasure and advantage. But finally, wise heads win and convince Alexander to quit the army and appoint a commander-in-chief.

Andrei is summoned to court, where he meets Pfuel, the man masterminding the campaign. Like his father, Andrei takes a dim view of Germans and the science of war. Pfuel, we are told, is a man so in love with his theories that he is pleased by failure, all the better to prove the perfection of his abstract notions.

Andrei listens to the generals argue about strategy and tactics, feeling sorry for the selfless but self-confident Pfuel, whose day is clearly done. Andrei notes ‘a panic fear of Napoleon’s genius’ that did not exist before. But more than ever, he is convinced that war is not won by generals and military genius but by the man in the ranks who holds his nerve. So, he asks the emperor for permission to serve on the frontline.

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